Monday, April 22, 2013

REVIEW: COUGH / WINDHAND SPLIT (REFLECTION OF THE NEGATIVE)

Reflections of the Negative
features two colossal doom bands from Richmond, VA, both on Relapse
Records. I just listened to this split album a couple times on repeat
and I’m pretty sure the music impregnated me and a baby demon is now
forming in some egg of sulphur in my tummy. Not gonna be fun shitting
that out, but this split was totally worth the future discomfort.

The
opening of Cough’s 18 minute track, “Athame,” sounds eerily similar to
the music created by the coven of black-toothed witches in The Lord of Salem,
a film I found tedious and completely uninspiring. This song, which
plods defiantly into oblivion for nine minutes before switching gears
into an even more unpleasant circle of hell, features more suspense and
chills then that film mustered in 101 minutes. The connection to
witchcraft isn’t just a convenient bridge into mentioning my recent film
reviews either, as an “athame” is a ceremonial dagger used in many
neopagan witchcraft traditions. Like the dagger, the percussion cuts
through the suffocating fog of black smoke just enough for Parker
Chandler’s strangled vocals to sneak through the forest of briars.
Halfway through the song, when the lyrics announce “the time has come
for sacrifice,” you can picture a procession of hooded figures lead by a
single dying lantern flame to a black altar crafted from burnt bones
and warped wood. The droning chant, soaked with reverb and haunted to
the core, accompanies pummeling drums that rejoin the heavy groove of
the main riff leading into the thirteenth minute. It’s all entirely
captivating, a testament to the power of one ungodly riff and a whole
lot of phantasmal atmosphere. Try listening to this in some woodlands
after dusk without something dead rising from the rotten leaves and
muck.

As
the album’s chaser, Windhand is the spoonful of sugar that helps the
medicine go down, if the medicine is actually laced with the blood of a
leprous monk and poison sumac. The riffs are similarly massive and
leaden, but while Cough just try to get through the woods alive,
Windhand seem to have found the safest clearing and stroll there a
little bit. Sure, they’re surrounded by the skeletons of ill-fated
travelers, but the way the light bounces off their skulls and femurs is
kinda pretty at this hour. “Shepherd’s Crook” features some soaring lead
guitar and Dorthia Cottrell’s vocals wind between the pine trees to
awaken some ancient evil. But of the two songs “Amaranth” leaves the
largest impression in the mud, with resourceful drumming from Ryan Wolfe
powering the attack. it turns out that Amaranth is a blossoming weed
that has symbolized immortality reaching back to early Greek mythology.
Windhand’s music is similarly everlasting, as you can find roots of this
music in ancient incantations and the rawest forms of blues. Both of
these bands show up at the top of their form on this split, making it
essential listening for fans of doom, sludge, or extreme occult rock.
When that demon egg hatches I’m gonna name it Coughand, and this album
will be his lullaby.

Listen to the album over at Bandcamp and feel the black magic consume you:http://coughwindhand.bandcamp.com/album/reflection-of-the-negative

And order the beautiful vinyl LP from Relapse over at: http://www.relapse.com/label/catalog/product/view/id/83006/s/reflection-of-the-negative-lp-white-and-black-splatter/category/52/